Hackathon

The Options for Pregnancy Termination Innovation (OPTions) Initiative supports Bold Ideas with Big Impact® that put women and girls in control of where, when, and how they terminate their pregnancy. $250,000 CAD grants are available for innovators in any field to test novel methods of pregnancy termination at any stage of development.

The Challenge

The aim of the OPTions Hackathon is to save and improve the lives of women and girls through expanded and improved choices for methods of pregnancy termination.

The OPTions Initiative is seeking bold, innovative, transformational and ‘outside-the-box’ ideas for next-generation methods of pregnancy termination, including those that incorporate concepts, methods and technologies not currently being used for pregnancy termination.

Participants without ideas, but interest to develop and take forward an idea, can also participate.

Ideas

Next-generation methods of pregnancy termination should offer one or more improvements to existing pregnancy termination methods, including but not limited to:

The ability to be effectively administered at later stages in gestation

Effectiveness at terminating a pregnancy

The ability for women and girls to access and self-administer with greater autonomy and privacy

Ease of compliance (e.g. single pill administration)

Reduced side effects and pain

Stability profile

Permissive within existing regulatory frameworks (e.g. having other primary indications)

Cost-effectiveness

Participants

Innovators worldwide and in all fields are encouraged to participate, including but not limited to:

FemTech

Medicine

Healthcare

Biomedical engineering

Biotechnology

Biomedical physics

Drug development and trials

Biohacking

Individuals with knowledge of traditional, folk, and indigenous methods of pregnancy termination

If you have an existing project, the hackathon will prepare you for the grant request.

If you do not have an existing project, our experts will help you develop one before and during the hackathon.

Innovators must be directly affiliated with an institution that is able to administer a grant (sole proprietorships are ineligible) and cannot be a previous or current direct grantees of the Very Large Anonymous Donor. For more details on eligibility, please see Section 4.1 of the OPTions Round 2 Request for Proposal.

Additional Information

Background

The impact of unsafe abortion is profound. There are 25 million unsafe abortions annually, the vast majority of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. Next-generation methods of abortion are an untapped field for innovation. There has been limited research and development in this field to date. The introduction of medical abortion, in addition to manual vacuum aspiration, revolutionized abortion care; however, it still has limitations. The OPTions Initiative is seeking bold, radical, and daring ideas for next-generation methods of pregnancy termination that have the potential to improve and expand choices of methods of safe pregnancy termination.

Submissions

Participants of the Hackathon will submit an application for funding through our Fluxx Application Portal. Submitted applications will be reviewed by the OPTions Initiative expert Peer Review panel.

The OPTions Initiative aims to award approximately 20 grants to the top applications for the Round 2 Request for Proposals, including those submitted during the Hackathon.

Hackathon participants will receive proposal development support and mentorship to fine-tune their idea and craft their application, giving them the best possible chance of receiving a $250,000 grant.

What Platforms Will the Event Take Place on?

Mentors

The Options Initiative’s Hackathon mentors will be announced soon – stay tuned!

Funded Innovation

The OPTions Initiative aims to build a portfolio with a wide range of next-generation methods of pregnancy termination. Outside-the-box, early-stage, blue sky ideas from innovators in all fields are encouraged. Examples of innovations supported to date include:

Resources

*Note that the OPTions Hackathon is only for innovations in Focus Area #2 mentioned in these resources (next-generation methods of pregnancy termination). Innovations that improve access to existing methods of pregnancy termination are not within the scope of this Hackathon.